Cowgirls blank UIW, erupt for eight runs in fourth inning

Published 11:00 am Saturday, April 30, 2022

By Damian Juneau

Special to American Press

First-place McNeese State used an eight-run fourth inning to propel it to a 9-0 mercy-rule victory over Incarnate Word on Friday in the opener of a three-game Southland Conference series.

“It took us a little while to get going today,” Cowgirls head coach James Landreneau said. “I thought their pitcher (Ashley Trapp) mixed her up her timing pretty well as we trying to force it and slow down our bats a good bit.

“It was a weird first three innings with not a lot of hard-hit balls either way.”

The Cowgirls’ scoring started in first inning when Alayis Seneca and Kendall Talley both reached base on walks. Seneca scored on a double steal to give the Cowgirls the 1-0 lead.

The Cardinals (13-31, 3-10 SLC), who have lost five straight, threatened to take the lead in the top of the third inning. They loaded the bases after consecutive singles and a fielder’s choice with one out. Pitcher Ashley Vallejo induced a flyout and groundout to end the inning.

McNeese (31-18, 11-2) broke the game open in the fourth inning with eight runs. Crislyne Moreno started the inning with a double. She scored two batters later on a double steal. A two-run single by Chloe Gomez scored Toni Perrin and Erin Ardoin to increase the lead to 4-0.

The scoring continued with no outs as Gomez scored on a Josie Willingham fielder’s choice. A squeeze bunt by Talley scored Willingham with the sixth run of the inning. The final two runs were scored by Talley and Lopez.

“It was a great job of continuing to put balls in play,” Landreneau said. “Crisylene Moreno got it started with double and I thought we did a good job of looking for pitches to drive.

“I think for a little while we were guessing a little bit but once we were able to get on base and put speed on its like our team starting to settle in and put some good swings on pitches.”

No Cowgirl had more than one hit.

The final UIW at-bat saw Ryleigh Mata hit a ball down the right-field line but she was thrown out at third base by Seneca trying for a triple.

Vallejo (13-7) picked up the win, going five innings, giving up four hits with two strikeouts. The Cowgirls have recorded back-to-back shutouts, not having allowed a run in 13 innings. It was their ninth shutout of the season.

Trapp (4-8) lasted three innings. Mata led the Cardinals by going 2-for-3.

The teams will wrap up the series and the Cowgirls’ final home games with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. today.